Legal Quality, Inequality, and Tolerance

1 Department of Economics, Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University2 Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University3 Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University

Abstract:

Previous findings suggest that income inequality leads to lower legal quality. This paper argues that voters' tolerance of inequality exerts an additional influence. Empirical findings suggest that inequality leads to lower legal quality due to its effect on trust while the tolerance of inequality, proxied by the political ideology of the median voter, exerts an independent influence.